War on Terrorism

Thursday, January 30, 2014

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2014 – U.S. national security officials
have long been worried about the nexus between terrorists and transnational
criminal organizations.

That’s because these developed global networks also carry
the potential of trafficking in weapons of mass destruction and related
materials.

“The same networks and same recombinant pipelines that are
used to successfully move an enormous amount of a multitude of illicit products
-- from cocaine to weapons to bulk cash to human beings -- can easily be used
and likely will be used for illicit proliferation purposes,” said Douglas Farah
of IBI Consultants. He spoke at a recent Proliferation Security Initiative
table top exercise sponsored by U.S. Southern Command that examined ways
nations can work together to combat these networks.

Transnational criminal organizations have long been a
challenge in Southern Command’s area of responsibility. Colombian rebels, who
have fought the government in Bogota since the 1960’s have used drug smuggling
to finance their operations.

Hezbollah -- the Iranian-sponsored terror group -- has long
been active in South America including being implicated in the deadly bombing
of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, as well as more recent accusations
of being involved in laundering drug money from the region.

In 2011, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy
Adm. Mike Mullen said the growth of transnational crime in Africa -- notably
for drugs -- has also touched on a number of other problem areas including
human trafficking and syndicates working with terror organizations. Such
organized crime, Mullen said, “is not just about drugs, … it’s immigration,
it’s people, it’s weapons.”

“As criminal and terrorist networks increasingly overlap and
find new and innovative ways to work together when it is mutually beneficial,
the likelihood of [WMD-related trafficking] increases,” Farah said.

The table top exercise in Miami brought together fourteen
PSI-endorsing nations from across the Western Hemisphere, as well as Australia
and Poland, united in their commitment to stopping or disrupting shipments of
WMDs and WMD-related materials.

“In the Western Hemisphere, we have an opportunity to get
ahead of the threat, and in Miami we saw that the region is motivated to
cooperate in new ways. Interdiction -- consistent with national laws and
international legal frameworks -- can have a strategic effect through
cooperation,” said Rebecca K.C. Hersman, deputy assistant secretary of defense
for countering weapons of mass destruction.

How to counter the emerging threat was another focus. Under
the Proliferation Security Initiative, there is now a more systematic capacity
building effort called the Critical Capabilities and Practices framework. The
Miami exercise was the first presentation of this framework and an associated
toolkit that provides specific measures to enhance a nation’s capability to
interdict -- from legal tools and rapid decision making best practices to
operational training, in concert with other U.S. government programs like the
U.S. State Department’s Export Control and Related Border Security Program.

More than 100 countries have endorsed PSI. They cooperate to
enhance interoperability and improve national capacities to act with speed and
effectiveness to stop WMD, their delivery systems, and related items. PSI
participants are addressing the proliferation challenge on all fronts – air,
land, and sea transport of WMD, their delivery systems, and related items,
financial transactions in support of proliferation, and networks of persons
engaged in the deadly trade.

The next major PSI exercise, Fortune Guard 14, will be
hosted by U.S. Pacific Command in August.

Monday, January 27, 2014

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2014 – An Afghan government order to
release 37 of 88 detainees who U.S. Defense Department leaders have deemed to
be legitimate threats to national security drew condemnation from a Pentagon
spokesman today.

Army Col. Steve Warren said strong evidence or investigative
leads support the detainees’ prosecution or further investigation.

A special government panel called the Afghan Review Board,
or ARB, ordered that the 37 detainees be released from the Afghan-supervised
detention facility at Bagram Airfield.

“ARB is releasing dangerous insurgents, and the [United
States] has provided extensive information and evidence on each of these 88
detainees,” Warren said. “We strongly condemn the extrajudicial release of these
detainees.”

Warren also noted that of the 37 detainees, 17 are linked to
the production of or attacks using improvised explosive devices, three
participated in or had knowledge of direct attacks wounding or killing 11
Afghan national security forces members, and four participated in or had
knowledge of direct attacks wounding or killing 42 U.S. or coalition service
members.

The colonel described the detainees as “bad guys” and
“individuals with U.S., coalition and Afghan blood on their hands.”

Friday, January 24, 2014

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2014 – Afghan National Security Forces
are prevailing in their battles against the Taliban and other fighters, a
senior U.S. commander told reporters from Afghanistan today.

And, Afghan forces are doing well with minimal assistance
from the International Security Assistance Force as the end of the U.S.-led
NATO mission in Afghanistan nears, Army Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the commander
of ISAF’s Joint Command said as he addressed the Pentagon press corps via
satellite.

“Throughout the summer, it was a tough fight and the Afghans
stood up … and fought well across the board throughout the provinces and the
districts,” Milley said. “The Afghan security forces were tactically
overmatching anything that the Taliban … or anybody else could throw at them.”

But Milley acknowledged Afghan casualties have increased
50-70 percent during some 3,000-4,000 firefights in recent years.

The U.S. and its NATO allies, Milley said, have shifted
gears in Afghanistan since the invasion following the 9/11 attacks. At that
time, he said, there were no Afghan police, and only remnants of the Northern
Alliance patched together in small units.

“We came into this country … to prevent [it] from ever again
being a platform to carry terrorism to the shores of the United States or any
other vital national interest,” Milley said.

Antiterrorism efforts in Afghanistan, Milley explained, were
intended to stabilize the country and establish a capable Afghan security
force.

In the ensuing years, Afghan forces’ leadership, skills and
cohesion have continued to improve, Milley said.

“The Afghans stepped up to the fight,” the general said.
“Was it perfect? No. Was it pretty? No. But war is not a pretty thing.”

Thursday, January 23, 2014

BRUSSELS, Jan. 23, 2014 – International Security Assistance
Force personnel are making a difference in Afghanistan as the NATO mission
there enters its final year, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said here
yesterday.

Dunford commands ISAF, which includes U.S. forces. He and
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are
attending the 170th NATO Chiefs of Defense meeting at NATO headquarters here.

Dunford said his troops are highly motivated as they perform
a tough mission under arduous conditions.

“One of the campaign imperatives that I have is the spirit,
discipline and the will of the force, which I don’t take for granted,” Dunford
said. “I have not seen any indication that the uncertainty of the political
environment has affected our guys in what they do every day. In fact, I’m
astounded at how little impact that has.”

The troops are focused on getting done what needs to get
done, he said.

There are about 58,000 troops in Afghanistan today from the
28 NATO nations and 22 partner countries. About 36,000 of those troops are
American. Afghan security forces are in the lead throughout the country, with
NATO personnel training and advising the Afghan military and police.

The NATO service members draw their strength from what they
have accomplished with the Afghan forces, Dunford said. Personnel who have
served in Afghanistan for multiple tours can see the increase in Afghan
capabilities and capacity, the general said.

“The force as a whole believes they are making a difference
with the Afghans and they are increasingly proud of the Afghan forces’
performance,” he said.

He said the way the Afghans handled security for November’s
loya jirga was one example of the progress made. The assembly was in Kabul with
Afghan army and police working together to provide security for more than 3,000
delegates. The loya jirga was a terrorist target.

Yet the Afghans handled the security and there were no
incidents. “Our guys see that and know they are making a difference,” Dunford
said.

Afghan special operations forces are making similar strides.
Dunford spoke of Afghan-planned, Afghan-manned and Afghan-led missions now
being conducted routinely.

“Those glimmers of capability development mean a lot to our
guys,” he said.

Dunford also credits the senior enlisted leaders in the
country with the high morale.

“You can’t be a strong, silent type at this point in the
campaign,” he said. “You’ve got to be talking to people every day. They have to
understand what they are doing and why they are doing it.”

Dunford tells service members to stay focused on their
Afghan counterparts and the missions they are assigned to do, “and we will take
care of that political space.”

He said service members are adamant about making it matter,
adding that personnel around the country want the sacrifices to count.

“What I tell them is at the end of this year and into the
next mission we have got to look at the moms and dads who have lost sons and
daughters, and we have to look at our buddies that came home a little different
than when they deployed -- we’ve got to look them in the eyes and say, ‘We
closed the deal.’ We made it matter,” he said. “And that also keeps them
going.”